Clive Humby OBE

Clive Humby is the former Chairman and co-founder of dunnhumby, a leading international marketing company, providing both consultancy and facilities managed services to a broad range of blue-chip clients.

A specialist in customer retention and consumer insights, he was the chief architect behind the 1995 launch of Tesco's Clubcard and segmentation programme – the first mass customisation loyalty programme in the world.

Together with Terry Hunt and Tim Phillips, in 2008 Clive co-wrote Scoring Points: How Tesco is winning customer loyalty, the compelling and dramatic inside story of how the Tesco Clubcard was conceived, launched and developed. In the book, they explain in detail how Tesco collected, analysed and used customer data to become a retail giant, making customer loyalty marketing work when almost every other programme failed.

By pairing its loyalty scheme with sophisticated information technology, Tesco set a new standard for knowing your customer. As well as dominating the grocery sector in Britain, Tesco became the world's largest online grocer and a global retailer selling everything from travel insurance to televisions.

Scoring Points is one of the seminal marketing books of the last decade. A fascinating story of what can be achieved through vision, a strong team ethic and a company-wide commitment to customer satisfaction, it is an inspirational read for anyone in business, from junior marketers or salespersons working in an FMCG environment, to any practitioner looking to better analyse their customer base.

With over 45 years experience in customer analytics across 30 markets globally, he and wife Edwina Dunn originally started their business in their back bedroom during 1989, and by the time they retired in 2011, it had grown to an organisation of 1500 people, reaching 350m customers in 25 countries.

Humby and Dunn pioneered the use of data analysis for customer benefit and Clive was responsible for customer strategy, from analysis through to the implementation of client merchandising, store operation, marketing and communication strategies. From creating the first geodemographic system, ACORN, in the 1980s, to developing the use of motivational segmentation at Starcount, he is acknowledged as one of the world’s pioneers in the discipline.

Clive was first to coin the phrase “data is the new oil” in 2006 and is consulted at all levels, from government on the implication of Data Science in the UK Economy through to individual clients where he leads key work streams designed to step change their businesses.

Michael Palmer expanded on his quote by saying, like oil, data is “valuable, but if unrefined it cannot really be used. [oil] has to be changed into gas, plastic, chemicals, etc to create a valuable entity that drives profitable activity; so, data must be broken down and analysed for it to have value.”

Clive Humby has elected honorary Fellowships at the Institute for Direct Marketing, the Market Research Society and the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, and was made a Patron of the Market Research Society in 2013 and Companion of the Operational Research Society in 2014. He has an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering from Sheffield University.

He was awarded an OBE in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to Data and Business in the UK. Edwina Dunn also founded the educational charity The Female Lead, which is dedicated to offering women alternative role models to those presented by popular culture and celebrates women's achievements across a diverse range of sectors and roles.

Clive Humby's keynote presentations describe how Clubcard helps Tesco to learn more about its customers. In a tough competitive climate in which consumers chase the best deals, Clive explains how loyalty really works and how segmentation allows you to target special offers at low cost - with maximum returns on investment.

For those wanting in-depth detail, Clive’s specialities include Audience Valuation, Data Commercialisation, Loyalty, Customer Engagement,
Retail Marketing Mix, Price Optimisation, Range Reviews, NPD, Retail Location, EPOS and Loyalty card management; reward program design, customer segmentation.

He also espouses "The Power of Two" leadership principle. This teaches that the most effective way to operate is by pairing two people with complementary skills, such as analysts and marketers. It is a model he and Edwina Dunn instigated at dunnhumby and which he continues to advocate to this day.

For many years, he was a visiting professor at NorthWestern University in Evanston, IL and is currently a regular speaker on a number of leading MBA programmes.

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Clients often ask about purchasing books for giveaways and delegate packs. Below you’ll find a selection of products by Clive Humby OBE. Click the images to view on Amazon's website. For bulk orders, please speak with your Booking Agent.